WASHINGTON — With every Democrat boycotting, Republicans on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today held an executive session and approved two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees: Tom Price as secretary of health and human services and Steve Mnuchin as treasury secretary.
The vote moves the nominees a step closer to full Senate confirmation. This broke a standoff that started Monday when Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, refused to attend a Finance Committee meeting at which votes were expected.
How the standoff started
Democrats said they had too many unanswered questions about the nominees.
Those included concerns about possible conflicts of interest by Price, who has held stock in drug or medical-device companies while working on legislation that would help the companies or the industry. Price, currently a House of Representatives member from Georgia, has said his broker used his discretion to buy the stocks.
Questions for Mnuchin include the tactics of a finance company he once presided over, OneWest Bank, that use aggressive foreclosure tactics without fully verifying that it met the legal standards necessary to evict homeowners. Mnuchin has previously said his company did not use such tactics.
The Democrats had a list of questions about Price and Mnuchin they presented in a letter early today (you can read it below) to Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah. “Despite repeated requests by members of this Committee, both nominees have yet to answer important questions that impact the American people,” the letter said.
Republicans contended Wednesday that if Democrats had shown up Tuesday, they would have had their answers.
“Oh, come on,” Hatch said when a reporter mentioned that Democrats said they needed more information. “They had tons of information,” adding, “They don’t have one argument that’s worthwhile.”
Ohio’s Brown disagreed.
“Mr. Mnuchin’s bank hurt good, hardworking people in Ohio and around the country, and the least those people deserve is honest answers,” he said.
Sen Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who is also on the committee, praised today’s committee actions, saying the Nakitbahis votes on the nominees will move the country a step closer to much-needed economic and healthcare policies.
“During his confirmation hearing, Steve Mnuchin committed to working with me to reform our broken tax code and crack down on unfair imports, and I look forward to working with him to accomplish those goals,” Portman said in a statement.
“Likewise, as we move forward with efforts to replace ObamaCare with a better system that lowers healthcare costs, Rep. Price expressed his commitment to me that he’d work with us on a replacement that would help ensure access to addiction treatment for individuals currently getting insurance coverage through ObamaCare’s exchanges or Medicaid expansion.”
The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said today’s one-sided session violated Senate rules “in the face of strong evidence of two nominees’ serious ethical problems.” It normally takes at least one member of the minority party for the committee to have a quorum, necessary for the committee to vote.
Furthermore, Wyden said, the boycott Monday was not extraordinary, and Hatch himself led one when Republicans in 2011 objected to details of free-trade deals President Barack Obama wanted.
But Hatch disagreed with the legitimacy of Democrats’ concerns today, and said the Senate parliamentarian opined that the committee could vote in an executive session, as Wednesday’s meeting was called.
“I don’t care what they do, but the parliamentarian said this was a proper measure,” Hatch said. He said all members, regardless of party, were told Monday night that there would be a session today.
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